Circuit-controller



(No Model.)

2 SheetsSheet 1.

L. H. MSGULLO'UGH. GIRGUIT CONTROLLER.

Patented Dec. '8, 1885 WITNESSES: IA/ VE/VTOI? ?i mwyz 5 ATTORNEY? (No Model.) 7 2 Sheets Sheet 2. L. H. MGUULLOUGH.

UIRUUIT UONTROLLER No. 331,986; Patented Dec. 8 1885.

as quickly as possible.

UNITED STATES PATENT @rricn.

LEWIS H. MCGULLOUGH, OF RICHMOND, INDIANA.

CIRCUIT-CONTROLLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 331,986, dated December 8, 1885.

Application filed July .39, 1885. Serial No. 172,937. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, LEW'IS H. McOULLoUeH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the county of Wayne and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in GircuitOontrollers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it 'appertains to make and use the same.

My present circuit-controller is designed as a simplification of one part of the apparatus shown and described in a patent granted to me April 28, 1885, for a multiple signal-box 'for fire and police telegraphs. That apparatus consists, essentially, of an ordinary circuitclosing signal-wheel-such as is used in firetelegraphsand a separate circuit closing wheel or series of wheels for sending in signals for police, police-patrols, &e., both classes of wheels being operated by the same motor. In order to make it impossible or difiicult for unauthorized persons to operate the policealarm, the push-rod which controls its operation is concealed behind an inner door, the keys of which are intrusted only to the police and their agents. This matter of having the power to call the police and policepatrols confined to the police themselves is one of great importance, and has hitherto led to the employment of separate signal-boxes for the fire and police service. The union of the two apparatusesin a single box is very convenient and economical, and in an application filed by me on the 1st day of April, 1885, and still pending in the oiiice, I show how, with the use of my multiple signal-box, I can utilize a large part of my line-circuit for sending either or both classes of signals; but the mechanism of the police signaling apparatus is itself complex and expensive. Moreover, it is well un derstood that the prime requisite of a signaling system of this kind is that there may be means for operating the signaling apparatus I accordingly dispense entirely with the signal-wheels and gearing for police service shown in my abovementioned patent and substitute the mechanism which I am about to describe, and which is not only very simple but also easily accessible and capable of being operated with great rapidity. The circuit-con troller is, in fact, operated from the outside of the box, its peculiar feature being that in order to operate it one must have a special keysuch, for example, as a Yale or Standard lock key. Thus I secure the same protection against unwarranted interference which is secured by the other form of apparatus, and I also save the time that would be necessary for unlocking an outer and an inner door, and furnish a very simple, reliable, and inexpensive substitute for the signal-wheels and their gearing.

To provide for any emergency which may arise, I do still retain the double doors, and provide an ordinary button for operating the circuit-controller from the inside as well as the outside of the box. This will be found convenient when the box has already been opened for the purpose of operating the firealarm signaling apparatus.

The form of apparatus which I illustrate in the accompanying drawings is only one of many that might be devised to cover substantially the same principle.

The broad idea of the present invention is to furnish a circuit-controller capable of sending arbitrary or predetermined signals, which circuit-controller can only be operated by means of a special key.

The drawings show a circuit closer, although, of course, the principle will be the same whether a circuit-closer or a circuitbreaker is illustrated.

In the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates an elevation of the circuit-closing apparatus within the box and its supporting-frame, the parts being shown in their normal position with the circuit open. Fig. 2 is a similar view, the parts being shown in the position which they occupy when the circuit is closed. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the entire circuit-closing apparatus. Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively front and side elevations of my circuit-closing mechanism on closed circuit, the mechanism being provided with a hard-rubber button for 'operatin g the cireuit-closer from the inside of the box; and Fig. 6 shows my apparatus applied to a signal-box.

The same letters indicate the same parts throughout.

A is a plate or base constituting a support for my circuit-closing apparatus. This plate is provided with screw posts a, which are placed against the inside of a signal-box, and into which screws are passed through the side of the box for holding the frame of my apparatus in a fixed position. The plate A and the posts a may be said to constitute the frame of my apparatus. The spindle or cylinder b of a Yale lock, or other similar lock, extends out through the side of the signal-box, as shown in Fig. 6, to receive a key, B, by means of which it is to be turned. Between the side of the signal-box and the plate A the cylinder 1) passes through a box or casing, G, which contains the tumblers or other operative parts of the lock. The cylinder also passes through plate A, and has formed on or attached to its inner end a ratchet-wheel, d, and a disk, 6. The ratchet-wheel is provided with a dog, f, and a spring, 9, to prevent its being rotated except in one direction. The disk 6 is cut away on one side, and upon its straight surface bears an arm, h, which is pressed against it by the spring z to keep it normally in the position shown in Fig. 1. The parts it and t are formed in one piece and pivoted at j. It is evident that by turning the spindle b, by means of the proper key B, the ratchet-wheel d and disk e will both turn with it. A bent arm, K, pivoted at 76, is normally drawn down against the upper rounded surface of the disk e by a spring, Z. Supported on the outer end of this arm, but insulated therefrom by hard rubber or other insulating material, is a binding-post, m, which is connected with a swivelrod, a, forming one of the circuit-terminals.

The other terminal, 0, is connected with a binding-post, p, and both terminals are inclosed in a glass tube, (1, supported in brackets 'r T.

In practice I fasten a piece of soft-rubber tubing, .9, around the upper end of the tube q, and around an enlargeme11t,n,on the swivelrod '11. I do this by winding small wires around the soft rubber where it incloses the tube and the enlargement, and twisting the ends of each wire to hold the rubberin place. The bottom of the tube may be sealed around the lower circuit-terminal, or to the lower binding-post, as desired. The object of such sealing, and also of the soft-rubber piece 3, is to render the glass tube practically dust-proof, and so prevent the accumulation of minute particles on the contact-points, which might derange the working of the apparatus.

The operation of the parts above described is as follows: The key is inserted in the lock and turned to the right. The arm Kwill ride at first on the curved surface of the disk e,-

' but by the time a half-rotation has been made the straight surface of the disk will have come under the end of the bent arm,which will then be drawn down by the force of the spring Z. The binding-post m and the rod a will be carried down with it, and the latter will be brought into contact with the opposite terminal of the circuit within the glass tube. On turning the key B still further the arm K and its attached parts will be raised again by the disk 6 into their original position. Every time the key B is turned completely the circuit is closed once, and it is evident that an operator can send any desired signal over the line as well as if he were operating an ordinary telegraph-key.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I show a modified construction of the apparatus, in which the action of the key B in closing the circuit is positive, and in which there is an additional means for closing the circuit in the form of a button, B, located within the signal-box. In this construction the spring Z, supported on the upper bracket, 1', and attached to the bottom of the button B, tends to keep the button and its connected parts in an elevated position. The binding-post m and the rod a are supported on and in the button B, and when the button is in its raised position the end of the terminal a is out of contact with that of the terminal rod 0,connected with the lower binding-post p. The disk 6 is replaced in this form of apparatus by the cam e. The upper circuit terminal may be depressed into contact with the lower by pushing on the button B, or by turning the key B so as to bring the cam 6 down upon a shoulder, b, of the button B. The object of the button is to furnish an alternative means for operating the police-alarm circuit, and is designed to be used, when the outer door of the signal-box is already open, for the purpose of sending fire-signals.

Where the action of the key B is positive, as in the construction just described, I find it of advantage to give a little play to the lower circuit-terminal. I accomplish this by applying to the lower end of the glass tube q, and to the binding-post p, a soft-rubber tube, 8, in exactly the same manner as the softrubber tube 8 is applied to the upper end of the glass tube q and the enlargement a on the rod 41. I thus get ayielding support for the lower circuit-terminal, as will be readily understood. In practice I shall provide a guide for the button B, to prevent the shoulder b from being withdrawn by any means from under the cam e.

By calling the mechanism immediately connected with the key B a Yale, Standard, or other lock I would not be understood to imply that the function of the mechanism is actually to lock or unlock anything. The parts which usually perform those functions are here occupied in closing and unclosing an electric circuit. It is intended, however, that the circuit-controller shall be operated only by a special key, and that constitutes in reality the distinctive feature of the present invention. Whether the circuit-controller is operated through a spindle by a Yale-lock key, or by the bit of an ordinary key, is a matter of indifference. My circuit-controller is really a telegraph-key operatively connected with a mechanical key for sending any desired message in accordance with an understood This feature distinguishes it from such code.

devices as are employed to operate burglaralarm circuits on the turning of a key in a door.

The use of my improved circuit-controller need not be confined to a police-alarm system, but it may be employed wherever a private telegraph-key is desirable or useful.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. In an electric signaling system, the combination, with a telegraph-key, of a removable mechanical key for operating the same,whereby any desired signal can be transmit-ted, but only by persons having private mechanical keys, substantially as set forth.

2, In an electric signaling system, the combination, with the spindle of a Yale or other similar lock and a removable key for turning the same, of a telegraph-key operatively connected with the spindle, whereby any desired signal can be sent, but only by persons possessed of private mechanical keys, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with a signal-box and a telegraph-key supported within the same, of a removable mechanical key for operating the telegraph-key, and an opening in the box for the reception of the said mechanical key, whereby any desired signal can be sent, but only by persons possessed of private mechanical keys, substantially as set forth.

4. A signal-box and circuit-controlling devices supported within the same, and a button, also located within the box, for operating the said devices, in combination with a mechanical key for operating the circuit-controller, and an opening in the box, whereby the key can be inserted to act upon the circuit-controller, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. LENVIS H. MCOULLOUGH.

Vitnesses:

WM. MENDENHALL, J OHN P. THIsrLETHwAITn. 

